Using Multimodal Representations to Support Learning in the Science Classroom

This book draws together different projects that have been implemented in countries across the globe and provides an insight into how using multiple representations as part of the learning process impact on students. Researchers from Finland, Austria, Turkey, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, South Africa and the US provide a global perspective on classroom based projects where the use of multi-modal representations are critical elements of the learning process. While modal representations have been common-place in terms of instruction by the teacher and in the materials displayed on the walls of classrooms, too little attention has focused on student engagement with these representations. The intention of the book is to provide researchers, graduate students and teachers with a richer sense of what is possible and to stimulate further research into science classroom practices. This research is emerging and an essential component of future work on how best to promote student learning in science education. The volume focuses on how students begin to use representations as a means to build understanding. It discusses different approaches currently being implemented in science classroom settings, ranging from asking students to build physical representations of a concept or asking students to publicly defend and debate their representations as the central focus of the learning, to asking students to choose between representations to embed within writing activities to enrich learning outcomes in science education.